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Sodexo Live! has landed a five-year contract with Lancashire Cricket at Emirates Old Trafford for the delivery of catering services for conference & events as well as match day hospitality.
The provider of hospitality services in the sports and leisure industry, plans to build a strong casual workforce of approximately 150 from the Greater Manchester/North West area, contributing to the local economy and community.
The food will be overseen by Sodexo Live! Executive Head Chef Andy Hare, who will undertake a culinary training programme with Lancashire Cricket’s current chefs. This will include opportunities for them to train and develop at some of the other venues Sodexo Live! partners with, enabling them to bring back new and exciting ideas, as well as a potential trip to Paris to Lenôtre Culinary School. The school, which is owned by Sodexo Live! specialises in culinary arts, baking, pastry, restaurant management and Sommelier skills.
New items on the menu will have a regional flare including ingredients from local suppliers across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the North West.
Social impact sits at the heart of Sodexo Live! and through its food offering it will make a difference by working with social enterprises such as Change Please and Half the Story Biscuits. Change Please is a well-established coffee brand that works with the homeless to give them employment and training opportunities to build a better life. Half the Story Biscuits is similar, where it creates job roles within its bakery for those who have also experienced homelessness.
Working together, Sodexo Live! and Emirates Old Trafford – which has undergone a £75 million redevelopment over the last 15 years – will introduce exciting and diverse menus designed to elevate the dining experience, across both hospitality and conference & events held at the venue. The teams will work together for the first time at this weekend’s sold out IT20 fixture at Emirates Old Trafford between England and Australia.
Claire Morris, CEO Sodexo Live! UK&I, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to partner with Lancashire Cricket. This collaboration represents a fantastic opportunity to bring our food expertise in event catering and hospitality to one of the North West of England’s most iconic global venues.
“Furthermore, we feel incredibly proud to be selected as the club’s first ever Official Culinary Partner in its 160-year history. We thank Lancashire Cricket for putting its trust in us as our Experience Makers plan to deliver a standout service.”
Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive at Lancashire Cricket added: “Sodexo Live! is a worldwide hospitality brand, with a proven track record of enhancing the culinary experiences across sports venues, conference centres and global events.
“Over the past 12 years we have quadrupled in size and our scale now requires an enhanced platform to really focus on the next stage of our growth. We know there is an increasing demand for varied, creative and distinctive menus that are tailor-made for different audiences across a range of events that we hold at Emirates Old Trafford. We believe Sodexo Live! has the expertise and vision to make a real difference to our food offering and enhance the whole event experience across cricket, conferences and concerts at the venue.”
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